Ravenna
by the shattered star
Summary: Ravenna's past seemed to be something of a mystery in the film, so I thought I'd fill in the blanks.


_A/N I should probably make it clear that I didn't actually like Snow White and the Hunstman that much, but I wrote this for a friend, so I thought I'd share it with you. Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D Bisous ~ the shattered star  
_

_Ravenna_

She was born on a blustery winter's night, her skin almost as pale as the snow that blanketed the ground. Her mother held her to her breast and smiled down at the small, wriggling form that was her daughter. Thinking of how her husband had been killed soon after she became pregnant, the woman held her babe close. "I will keep you safe," she whispered in her tiny ear.

Years passed, and the babe grew to a child. The clan with which she lived admired her fair hair and alabaster skin. She was without a doubt the most beautiful child anyone had ever seen, and when she smiled, it seemed heaven itself would take a moment to smile back at her. Though the girl, whose name was Annevar but everyone called Anne, had the sweetest disposition imaginable, she did not have many friends. Most of the children in her clan were jealous of the power a pretty face controlled, but some sensed something rather odd about her. There were rumours that she had fits on the full moon, whispers that she was not entirely… _normal._

One day, not long after her seventh name day, her mother remarried and had another child, this time a boy. Anne was thrilled to finally have a true friend, someone who would not go on and on about how her hair was the fairest he had ever seen or shun her because of something she could not control. Soon after her brother was born, her stepfather died due to a flu he had contracted in the harsh winter that had struck down many members of Anne's clan. After her stepfather's death, Anne spent much of her time biting her lip and watching her mother spiral in and out of despair. She took up the role of caretaker for her brother, Finn, and the two of them spent every minute together.

"Why is mother sad today?" he would ask occasionally.

The only response Anne would have was, "She must be thinking about what's happened to her." Whenever she said this, Finn knew to stop asking questions, not wanting his sister to fall into yet another one of her dead silences.

Slowly, time passed and Anne became acutely aware of how she was different from everyone else she knew. There were times when odd things would happen. She could never explain them and they always happened at the most unexpected of times. She couldn't understand how she could get a pot of water to start boiling seconds after she had put it on the fire, nor did she know how she had once somehow managed to converse with a crow.

Mutterings invaded her ears. Magic was involved, they all said, magic that was wholly unnatural. She started becoming afraid, she started trying to talk to other girls in an attempt to seem more normal, but those that weren't terrified of her seemed to be fixated on how beautiful she was. Eventually, she stopped leaving the tent that served as her family home. Finn fetched food for them and she would cook everything with a false smile on her face. Both her mother and Finn saw through it, but they didn't know what they could do to solve her problem. After all, they themselves weren't completely comfortable with the strange occurrences that happened around her.

"Finn, why can't I be like everyone else?" she whispered one night while their mother was sleeping.

Finn, who was only nine, shrugged in response and turned away from her. "No, really!" she insisted. "Everyone is frightened of me, I don't know what to do!"

"Anne, I'm tired!" Finn whined, shutting his eyes tightly. Anne sighed and kissed her brother's forehead.

"Good night, then," she said. She could not sleep, still wishing there was something she could do to make herself normal. She had never asked to be beautiful or to have magic. She would have gladly given away both curses to anyone who asked.

Anne was awoken the next morning by a shrill cry. "Raiders!" She felt her mother pull her off of her sleeping pallet and grasp her arms.

"Listen to me—"

"What's happening?" she asked, her eyes still bleary with sleep.

"I will not let them take you," her mother said roughly, pulling Finn out of bed. "Take this," she said to Anne, shoving a parcel of food in her hands. "Run!"

Anne pushed a lock of golden hair out of her eyes and stared, open-mouthed and confused, at her mother. "What—"

"GO!" her mother cried, pushing them out of the opening of the tent.

"I won't leave you, mother!" Anne shrieked, trying to take her mother's hand amidst the chaos of the clan. A man riding a horse suddenly appeared in front of her, helmet covering all of his face save the savage grin that seemed to be directed at her. She screamed and dropped Finn's hand in her panic.

"Keep it safe!"

"What do you mean?" Anne shouted at her mother. A hand grabbed her nightdress and she felt herself being thrown to the ground and she knew no more.

She awoke in a twilit forest, very different from the tundra she had known as a child. She swallowed and realized someone had given her different clothes. She was wearing a very expensive looking gown; in contrast, her skin was grimy and her hair felt oily. Someone approached her, the same man she had seen on the horse. She crawled away from him, but he seized her hair and held her head close to his. She did not utter a sound.

"Name?" the man grunted. She said nothing. He grinned and she saw saliva between his yellowed teeth. "Oh, don't worry, love. You'll be talking soon enough."

She did not even count the days during which she was in captivity. Men did things to her there, and they claimed her beauty had put them under a spell. She said not a word throughout her torture, uttered not one sound. She watched villages being raided, she watched men being killed, she even taught herself how to use a dagger, using a sharp stick as practice during the night. She never managed to catch any of her captors off-guard, however, and so her plans of escape proved futile.

Eventually they tired of her and contrived a way to be rid of her. By that time, her soul had shrunk and she was not sure if she remembered how to smile. They sold her to a brothel and laughed at the money they were able to wheedle out of the woman who ran the establishment. What they did not know, however, was that they had made a grave error in leaving Anne in a city. After all, there were so many ways to escape, so many passages to be found. Anne almost smiled when she realized who they were going to sell her to. A whore. Not trained in combat at all. How easy; sharpened sticks would do the trick.

On her first day there, a girl caught sight of her and reached out a hand to touch her cheek. "My name's Scarlett," she said, smiling coyly, eyes the colour and shape of almonds. "What's yours?"

Anne placed a hand atop the girl's, looked into her eyes and returned the smile, though hers was more sinister. "Ravenna."


End file.
